Pakistan, India: Businesses to work on dismantling trade barriers

Both sides to form committee to look into issues hampering open trade.

LAHORE: Two leading business bodies of Pakistan and India have agreed to constitute a committee that will work on dismantling non-tariff barriers and look into issues hampering trade between the two sides.

The decision was reached in a meeting between representatives of the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) and a delegation of the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) at LCCI on Wednesday.

The CII delegation comprised 17 members, led by Kiran Vohra, while LCCI was led by its President Farooq Iftikhar.

The businessmen also deliberated on Indian reluctance to issue visas to Pakistani businessmen and apprehensions of pharmaceutical and engineering industries.

Vohra stressed that there was no second opinion that if Pakistan and India wanted to create a win-win situation for both, they would have to share opportunities. “It is not good for us to search for opportunities in Pakistan until we find better opportunities for Pakistan in India,” he remarked.

He pointed out that the Indian private sector was ready to go to any extent to strengthen the business community in Pakistan. “Nothing is better than having a stronger neighbour,” he said.

Speaking on the occasion, LCCI President Farooq Iftikhar said frequent exchange of business delegations clearly reflected the fact that private sectors of the two sides were very much eager to play their role in promoting direct trade with each other.



“No one can deny the fact that neither government-to-government nor private sector-to-private sector contacts alone can achieve desired results. There should be full-fledged efforts to engage all stakeholders in the process,” he suggested.

Iftikhar said the size of Indian economy and opening of trade would pose bigger challenges to Pakistan’s industry as there was considerable difference in the cost of doing business, duty structures and economies of scale between the two sides.

“In certain sectors of Pakistan like pharmaceuticals and automobile, open competition will prove highly disadvantageous for them.”

Iftikhar said the best way to start with was to identify areas of economic cooperation. Joint ventures, outsourcing and sharing of technology will further pave the way for expansion of trade.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 13^th, 2012.